Tuesday, August 21, 2012

BIC sent me some of the new stationery products they've released for the back-to-school rush to supplies. Ball pens in a variety of colors and styles, mechanical pencils with colorful barrels and chrome accents, and erasers with contoured grips (which are also PVC-free--great!). I couldn't help but smile when I opened the box. I always loved shopping for back-to-school.

I loved picking out the pens and pencils, selecting a notebook, wondering if I could persuade my mother to pay more for the style I really loved. Granted there weren't as many options then. I distinctly remember buying a Big Chief tablet to go to grade school. Do you remember those? I think they faded away sometime in the 1990s...but I remember them so fondly. And I believe I went to grade school with a cardboard pencil box. Pretty different from all the plastic ones filling bins in the seasonal aisles. (I found a fun tin one for Audrey.)

There are so many options now. It must be hard to pick for those of you shopping for serious supplies. My girls' list is pretty short and simple so we aren't there yet. There weren't any pens on the list for instance, and mechanical pencils (such as the colorful ones pictured above) are a bit too advanced (strange for a generation using iPads, but anyway...).

But my girls loved coloring with this bright assortment! I am going to drop them in a zippered pouch for when they need a quiet distraction. And I personally am partial to a very smooth writing instrument, so I love the BIC Velocity, which claims to be the "smoothest pen in the universe." Wow. I can't vouch for that, but it was fun to write with, especially in lime green.

I think if my girls were in the higher grades it would be great to think about different colored inks to go with different subjects. Anything to make it more interesting and help them feel better prepared. Or perhaps there could be a rainbow of these pens stashed in a Trapper Keeper notebook so they could pick a color according to mood. Do they still make Trapper Keepers? They were very cool back in my school days.

What were your favorite school supplies? What do you love to purchase for your school-going children today? Leave me a comment and let me know and you'll be entered to win a a set of colorful BIC supplies for your school goers--or you! (U.S. residents only) BIC will be sending one reader:

BIC Velocity® Bold Fashion Ball Pen, 8-Pack

BIC Cristal® Bold Fashion Ball Pen, 10-pack

BU3 Grip Fashion Ball Pen, 8-pack

BIC Erasers, 4-pack

BIC Atlantis® Fashion Mechanical Pencil, 4-pack

BIC Clic Matic® Mechanical Pencil in Fashion Colors, 4-pack

To enter please leave me a comment below (multiple entries possible):

Tell me which school supplies make you feel sentimental. Which do you remember being excited about? What do you enjoy purchasing for your children?

I don't know what the proper name for it is but I always loved the pen that had red, black, green and blue all in one you just had to choose the color at the top of the pen, thanks for the chance to win. nlczerw(at)gmail(dot)com

When you mentioned the cardboard pencil box, that took me back. I also loved the colored pens when I got to Jr. High. For my kids now, I like to buy them mechanical pencils, because I always thought they were way cooler than the ones you had to sharpen.

I had a Lisa Frank trapper keeper. I remember it had unicorns on it! This is the first time I get to buy school supplies for my son - the last 3 years we just had to write a check to the school so I'm so excited to buy it all!

I love a newly sharpened ticonderoga pencil and a never used notebook. I don't know if it's the memory of the first day of school and starting out "fresh" as one of my teachers put it, but it's nice. :)

I am a sucker for school supplies. When I went for the kids I can't help but to pick myself up some new products for the office. I remember how fun it was to get a new Trapper Keeper! I loved it! It was so cool! I love to purchase cool notebooks for my kids and help them to find the neatest ones! I love writing with pink and purple. But any new pen would work!! Love me some school supplies!!!

I remember my first Trapper Keeper! It had a kitten on it. With six of my eight kids in school, back-to-school is hectic around here, but I love seeing them excited about picking new backpacks and tennis shoes.

School supplies that were my favorites were definitely new crayons and notebooks. Buying school supplies made me excited for school to start (I was a nerd like that!). Thanks for the giveaway. angelaevenson (at) gmail (dot) com

I love the smell of crayons. I always buy myself a box. One of my favorite supplies are the composition notebooks. I always buy one of them too. And new colored pens. My children love to put all of their supplies in their new backpack. I love the lime green pen.

I loved colored pens in college and now my one year old loves pens! These would be great for his daily assignments since he gets tired of crayons. Also, the mechanical pencils would be great for teaching to hold a writing utensil correctly!

Hi Anneliese, i don't know if I can enter your giveaway because I'm from the netherlands, but I follow you a long time but not through email or sucha thing..Now i offically joined you and liked you on fb. To be continued....have a nice weekend, Greetings Sandra

OH!!! Always loved new crayons...and fresh paper! Get things for Grandgirlie's now....and even the High School Girlie's get crayons! LOL ALWAYS colored pens too.... Glitter pens, when they were the rage! (Still my fave & get when I find em!)Sparkley Notebooks!

Sadly, I didn't get to buy school supplies this year for my kids. Their school requested a check for supplies instead but I loved picking a generic pencil box for my little girl last year and then letting her decorate it with stickers. Thanks! Kim kschm720 at gmail dot com

I used to love buying new folders. The kind with pictures on them. It always made me feel so special. This was our 1st year to buy for our daughter. And she just loved that the folders and notebooks had such fun pictures on them. Like dancing fruit. :)

1. I loved shopping for back to school. There are 4 kids in my family and each of us got a day to go shopping with my mom. So far I've enjoyed buying a backpack the most. There are so many adorable choices out there!2. Pink! Its so bright and cheerful3. Long time follower!4. Liked!

This year we didnt get to buy any school supplies, the school ordered them all and I was sad...so were my kids! The love picking out all of the pencils and erasers and stuff. When I was a kid I of course had the trapper keeper-man I wish I still had one of those! New markers were always my favorite!